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Amazon's The Foreign Exchange Store

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Biography

Representative of how the Internet can aid in creating music, the Foreign Exchange started when Little Brother rapper Phonte heard a beat on Okayplayer.com by Dutch producer Nicolay and asked if he could lay some vocals over it. Nicolay agreed, and the song "Light It Up" appeared shortly after as the B-side to Little Brother's 2002 single "Whatever You Say." Relying ... Read more in Amazon's The Foreign Exchange Store

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Review

As cliché as it sounds, music does have the ability to bring people of various background and ethnicities together. Think not? Witness Connected, the debut album from the Foreign Exchange. North Carolina-raised MC Phonte, one-third of Little Brother, and Dutch producer Nicolay formed the duo and crafted the ethereally lush hip-hop album without ever meeting face-to-face. Using the marvels of modern technology, the group traded verses and tracks over the Internet. The result is anything but mechanical. Nicolay crafts soulful, intricate backdrops that draw comparisons to producers Pete Rock and Kanye West. On the appropriately titled "Nic's Groove", the producer crafts a pitch-perfect midtempo track over which Phonte and Little Brother cohort Big Pooh trade verses. Phonte also enlists a host of upcoming artists to guest on the set. The group's MC teams with newcomer Median on the emotional "Be Alright". While Median holds his own, Phonte is in full command with a personal lyric about dealing with the ups and downs of everyday life. Meanwhile, "Sincere", which features R&B songstress YahZarah, will have listeners falling in love with hip-hop and each other all over again. Connected is a prime example of the power of good music uniting different worlds. Maybe our elected officials could take a page out of the book of the Foreign Exchange. --Amazon

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

In August 2011, The Foreign Exchange reissued their debut "Connected"- an album that had been out of print for a number of years. Originally released in 2004 on the British based label BBE Records, the album had an interesting backstory. Little Brother member Phonte Coleman was fresh off the critical acclaim of Little Brother's debut "The Listening" when he heard an instrumental piece done by Dutch producer Nicolay Rook. He asked to lay some vocals over the song- which became "Light It Up", the B-side of "The Listening" single "Whatever You Say". From there, they recorded an albums' worth of material by way of instant messaging, e-mail and traditional mail without ever meeting each other. By the time "Connected" was released in late summer of 2004, they didn't meet each other in person until they had to tour to promote the album. Although this seemed unusual, this was not the first time a project was done in this manner. In fact, Death Cab For Cutie frontman Ben Gibbard did the exact same thing with his side project The Postal Service- predating The Foreign Exchange by a year. Critical acclaim was instant and massive by music critics and fans alike. Unfortunately, the album went out of print in 2008- just as they were releasing the follow-up "Leave It All Behind". Copies became expensive and difficult to attain for a few years, until they took matters into their own hands- they acquired the rights as well as the master recordings to reissue the project on their own label Foreign Exchange Music.

This album could be best described as downtempo, melodic hip hop. Musically, it has more in common with the "Do You Want More??!!??!" era of the hip hop band The Roots. Look no further than the song "Von Sees" featuring an appearance from Von Pea of Tanya Morgan.Read more ›

I think someone already said it, but this is without a doubt the most beautiful Hip-Hop album I've ever heard. I typically dislike when artists blend rapping and singing as it always strikes me as corny and insincere for whatever reason. Here, however, it's done so smoothly and balanced and the lyrics are so relatable that I wish it was done more often. It's difficult to classify this as one particular genre of music (which is furthered by the fact that the Foreign exchange switches up music styles with each album). The deluxe edition comes with both the original album (including a few remixes) and the instrumentals on a separate CD. The instrumentals are all dynamic enough that they would warrant a separate purchase if they were released as a separate album (which they originally were), thankfully you get the best of both worlds by buying this re-released edition. Definitely an album that should be in everybody's library.